


Coffee Break

by LegionofShadowhunters



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I just love clace so much, Slightly graphic description of violence, and I love when they worry about each other, but it's not terrible, clace, post ep 2x16, slight angst, they're so soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 22:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11541405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegionofShadowhunters/pseuds/LegionofShadowhunters
Summary: Clary and Jace take a short break from looking over Valentine's journals, and Jace reassures her that her hallucinations weren't real.





	Coffee Break

The walk from the Lightwood’s kitchen to their private library was a hell of a lot longer when you were carrying two steaming hot cups of coffee. The mugs were too hot and Clary was terrified of spilling hot coffee all over her skin.

She kept reminding herself the whole way down the hall that the coffee in her left hand was for Jace, splash of cream and two spoonfuls of sugar. Her own was almost completely black, just a little bit of sugar to take the edge off the bitterness. After hours of pouring over Valentine’s journals, the taste didn’t really matter, they just needed caffeine.

When she reached the library, Jace was still sitting in the chair he had been in all morning. His shoulders slouched forward over the table, his hair falling in his face as he read, and one of the older journals laid out in front of him with a legal pad to the side for him to take notes on anything of interest. 

They agreed he’d take notes on her brother and she’d take notes on the entries about Jace. The idea was meant to keep sentimentality and nostalgia from influencing what they thought of as important information. It hadn’t been working, at least not on Clary’s end.

As distracting as it would be to read about her own brother’s childhood, reading about Jace was almost worse. Any information about Jonathan would be new to her and on some levels, she felt entitled to that information. Most siblings grow up together and know everything about each other, shouldn’t she at least know a little about her own brother? Learning these things about Jace just seemed too personal. Getting Jace to talk about his childhood was like pulling teeth and now he was just letting her comb through it. 

She hit a breaking point after she stumbled across an entry from when Jace was seven. He had fumbled with a throwing knife and ended up dropping it in a way that left a large gash on his shin. The writing was disturbingly analytical. There didn’t seem to be any sign of concern for Jace’s wellbeing, just detailed accounts of the injury and a thorough analyzation of the mistake that led to it.

The description triggered memories of Clary’s hallucinations back in Idris. After finding Jace’s bloody jacket lying in the woods, she had followed the trail of blood to the treeline. The hallucinations gave her a clear vision of Jace’s bloodied, mangled body, all life gone from his eyes. The relief she felt to find him alive had been overwhelming, but reading about Jace’s injury sent her back into the panic she felt then.

“Coffee break,” Clary set the mug in front of him. She walked behind him to get to her chair, brushing her hand against his shoulder as she passed. “No reading for a full fifteen minutes.” She sat down and pulled her legs up into the chair with her. 

Jace sighed and closed the journal he was working on. “Thanks,” he said and leaned back in his chair. “The letters were starting to blur together.”

He looked over at her and the two of them sat in silence for a short moment. The weight of Jace’s eyes on her wasn’t unfamiliar or unwelcome, but lately they both knew there was a lot in those looks. “Have you found anything interesting?”

Jace looked at the legal pad he had on the table. “Not really. Nothing seems super out of the ordinary. I’m up to age four and he hasn’t done anything particularly aggressive or acted out in any way that raises a red flag.” He shook his head and tapped the paper with his finger. “I’m assuming that doesn’t continue and that he eventually did something to make Valentine get rid of him. Otherwise we would have been hearing about him before now.”

“What makes you say that?” 

“Hypothetically, he’d be a major asset. He’s a young, strong, capable shadowhunter,” Jace pointed out. “It doesn’t make sense to leave him sidelined, and we didn’t even hear about him from Valentine until he wanted to manipulate me.”

Clary took a sip of her coffee and nodded her agreement. “Do you really think he would have done it? Kill his own son?” 

“I wouldn’t put it past him, would you?”

Clary had seen up close and personal what Valentine was willing to do to his own children. The short time she was on his ship, he had locked her up in a cage and had Dot put some kind of spell on her. Whatever he did to Jace in the time he was on the ship had been bad enough to make him distrust Clary when they saw each other again. 

When Clary didn’t say anything Jace turned the conversation around, “Can I ask you about something that has nothing to do with what’s in these journals?”

“Well, we are supposed to be taking a break. Shoot.”

Jace turned his chair to face her and leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees. “How did you go from not being able to stay in the same room as me to touching me every chance you can get in the last twenty-four hours? Not that I’m complaining.” A small smile played at the corner of his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes were painfully sincere.

It was too much for Clary. She took a deep breath and looked down at her coffee. She didn’t have a good excuse. It was just so much easier to remember Jace was alive when she could see him—feel him. The last thing she expected was for him to notice. Brushing his shoulder as she walked past could have been an accident. Pressing her arm against his while walking though the doorway could have been because the space was too narrow. This morning’s training was just as hands on as always. Nothing that would have been cause for alarm. 

“The, uh, hallucinations are still kind of messing with my head,” It was a half truth, but it wasn’t a lie. “I’m not seeing things anymore, but sometimes I get a little confused. I just want to make sure who I’m talking to is real.” 

Jace reached out and took one of Clary’s hands away from her coffee mug. He pulled her hand closer to him until he could lay her palm flat against his chest, right over his heart. “I don’t know what you saw Clary, but I’m still here.” Under the thin fabric of his t-shirt and the hardened muscles of his chest she thought she could feel the steady beat of his heart. He took a deep breath, letting his chest expand under Clary’s touch. “See? Still breathing. I’m right here. Are you okay?”

Clary tore her gaze away from her coffee and met his eyes. “I’m just a little freaked out. I’ll be fine in a couple days.”

Jace nodded like he believed her, but he didn’t move. He kept her hands pressed to his chest, his thumb brushing across her knuckles. He was so warm and solid and alive.”If you need me, I’m right here.” 

Clary pulled her hand away and reach up to brush the hair falling in his face back. “I know that. You always are.” This time when Jace smiled, it met his eyes.


End file.
